Matt Damon reunites with his Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant for Promised Land, a dramatic film he co-wrote with John Krasinski (The Office). Damon and Krasinski also co-star in the film, which tackles the subject of fracking. What’s fracking? Per Websters, fracking – or hydraulic fracturing – is:
“A process in which fractures in rocks below the earth’s surface are opened and widened by injecting chemicals and liquids at high pressure: used especially to extract natural gas or oil.”
The Plot:
Matt Damon plays Steve Butler, an ace corporate salesman who is sent along with his partner, Sue Thomason (Frances McDormand), to close a key rural town in his company’s expansion plans. With the town having been hit hard by the economic decline of recent years, the two outsiders see the local citizens as likely to accept their company’s offer, for drilling rights to their properties, as much-needed relief. What seems like an easy job for the duo becomes complicated by the objection of a respected schoolteacher (Hal Holbrook) with support from a grassroots campaign led by another man (John Krasinski), as well as the interest of a local woman (Rosemarie DeWitt).
Promised Land explores America at the crossroads where big business and the strength of small-town community converge.
Promised Land opens December 28, 2012 in New York and Los Angeles, and January 11th nationwide.
